Philippine Speaker assures parliament’s support for Sri Lanka

The Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines has stated that the Parliament of the Philippines will certainly agree to all the programmes implemented by the government of Philippines under the guidance of the Philippines President, with the aim of assisting Sri Lanka.

The President’s Media Division stated that the Speaker and the former President of the Philippines Gloria Macapagal Arroyo made these remarks when she met with President Maithripala Sirisena, who is on a state visit to the Philippines, in Manila, today (17).

During this meeting, President Sirisena has recalled the steps taken to further strengthen the diplomatic relations between the two countries during the meeting with the Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, and further said that to achieve success in those initiatives the assistance of the Philippines Parliament is also required.

During this meeting between the two leaders, it was also discussed to establish Philippine Embassy in Colombo, to take forward the relations between the two countries in a broad manner, and President Sirisena has said to the Speaker that he would do the necessary interference to acquire land in Colombo in this regard.

President Sirisena had commended the Philippine government for combating the illegal drug trafficking. Also, he has said that the country was unable to build without the control of the drug menace and also requested the support of the Philippine government in Sri Lanka’s fight against illegal drug trafficking.

The Speaker has expressed her satisfaction over the matters agreed upon by the President in order to enhance the cooperation in the field of agriculture between the two states that Parliament would fully support this endeavour, the PMD said.

Thereafter, the President of the Philippines Senate met with the President Sirisena and held discussions.